


Heart of the Flower

by Brindlestorm



Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Moonflower lives, Stormtail is NOT a good dad, Sun and Moon don't actually get together in the fic, Sunfall is dad, and Hawkheart doesn't have a heart, but its implied lol, he kinda sucks tbh, well he wants to be dad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-15 22:48:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28820976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brindlestorm/pseuds/Brindlestorm
Summary: Bluepaw sees Moonflower in trouble, Swiftbreeze can't stop Bluepaw from rushing to help her mother, and everything is okay in the end. Consider it a fix-it fic
Relationships: Moonflower/Sunfall (Warriors)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	Heart of the Flower

“Hawkheart!” A Windclan voice rose from the edge of the clearing. “There are Thunderclan cats in your den!”

Snowpaw stretched up to see better over the bramble wall. “They’ve managed to get to the medicine supplies!” she mewed triumphantly.

“Be quiet and hold this!” Featherwhisker ordered, pressing the apprentice’s white front paw down on one end of the cobweb.

While her sister helped pad Leopardpaw’s wound, Bluepaw gazed down into the clearing. Her fur felt cold and prickly: Something was wrong. Hawkheart was already streaking away from the Windclan tabby he’d been tending to. He was heading for a tunnel where the earth dipped away between the brambles. _That must be the medicine cat’s den._ Two Windclan warriors were heading inside, disappearing with a flick of their tails. Hawkheart skidded to a halt at the opening and crouched down, his eyes narrowing and his tail thrashing back and forth.

Featherwhisker finished smoothing the cobweb along Leopardpaw’s wound. “Help me guide her back to the rock,” he told Snowpaw. “It's more sheltered there, and we’ll need help getting her back to camp.”

Snowpaw began to ease Leopardpaw to her paws and nudge her away from the edge of the hollow, but Bluepaw couldn’t move. She stared at Hawkheart, unable to swallow.

A screech rang from inside the den and Stonepelt hurtled out, blood pumping from a gash on his shoulder and a Windclan warrior slashing at his tail. Then came Moonflower, pursued by another warrior; her gray fur was streaked and speckled with torn herbs.

Bluepaw froze.

As Moonflower exploded from the den, Hawkheart lunged at her and snatched her up with his powerful front paws, then flung her like prey across the clearing. Bluepaw saw the shock on her mother’s face as she landed hard and struggled to find her feet. But she wasn’t fast enough. Hawkheart pounced on her, ripping with his teeth and claws.

_No! Stop!_

Where was Stormtail? Bluepaw looked around frantically, her head whipping from side to side. Surely he’d rescue Moonflower as he had rescued Dappletail? But the gray warrior was still fighting at the younger cat’s side, beating off Windclan warrior after Windclan warrior.

Moonflower was on her own.

Bluepaw took off down the slope, narrowly avoiding Swiftbreeze’s clumsy attempt to grab at her tail, tucking it around her leg as her father had when the battle started. Bluepaw stumbled as she crashed into a warrior, mumbling an apology as she rushed off, not caring if it had been a friend or foe. Numbly, she thought she heard Sunfall call for her, he sounded confused.

Just as she reached her mother, she saw Moonflower wrench herself from Hawkheart and land a searing blow on his muzzle. But the medicine cat didn’t even stumble, he snarled and knocked Moonflower down, jaws parted and ready to make the killing bite when-

“Leave my mother alone, you monster!” Bluepaw shrieked as she jumped on the Medicine-warrior’s head, clawing at his ears, hissing and spitting as they rolled over. Moonflower stumbled up to her paws, shaking her head to try and get rid of the ringing.

Meanwhile, Bluepaw and Hawkheart were no longer rolling around the clearing, Hawkheart had the new apprentice pinned with his long claws gripping her shoulders to keep her there. “Well then little warrior, perhaps I was wrong about you. You’ll be getting your first battle scar after all. And your last.” he sneered.

Bluepaw growled wordlessly, panicking internally when she felt his claws dig in further. She twisted her head and saw her mother crouched nearby, dazed and not moving, but watching in horror at her daughter being so viciously attacked. Bluepaw quickly realized her mistake of turning her head when Hawkheart bared his fangs and went for her throat this time.

Thinking on her paws, or rather on her back given her position, she threw herself upwards to meet him and bit as deep as she could into Hawkheart’s foreleg. Howling, the medicine cat hopped off the apprentice, swiping blindly at her to shove her away. In his pain, however, he caught her face instead of her shoulder, sending her crying to the ground as she held a paw over her eye.

Bluepaw was frozen in fear, blood trickling into her eyes. She could barely see Hawkheart stalking back towards her, though she could feel his rage as he got closer. Before he could attack her again, two cats jumped between her and the medicine cat.

“Hawkheart, that’s enough.” Heatherstar snarled. “You are a medicine cat, what in Starclan’s name do you think you’re doing, attacking a kit?”

Hawkheart curled his lip back, “She said she was a warrior so I’m treating her like one, it's not my fault if Thunderclan decided to bring unprepared, or underaged cats into an unjust battle!”

As the leader and medicine cat bickered, a golden tom crouched over Bluepaw, nosing her all over in worry. “Are you alright, Bluepaw? Can you speak?”  
“M.... m-my eye hurts, Sunfall,” Bluepaw whispered, paws trembling beneath her. 

“I’m sure it does, Hawkheart got you pretty good, didn’t he? C’mon, let’s get you and Moonflower to Featherwhisker, alright?”

Bluepaw nodded and let Sunfall guide her back up the slope, she heard Pinestar whisper to him. “I’ll get Moonflower, we should retreat while Windclan is distracted, we’ll have to move quickly. Can you carry her?”

Sunfall nodded and continued ushering Bluepaw up the slope, flicking his tail to any other Thunderclan warrior he saw so that they’d follow him.

As quickly and suddenly as Thunderclan had appeared, they slipped out of Windclan camp, and considered their raid a shaky success.  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thunderclan camp exploded with activity as soon as the raiding party returned. Adderfang fussing over Leopardpaw with Swiftbreeze and Patchpaw, calling Goosefeather over to take a look at his daughter first.

“I’m sure Featherwhisker tended to her..... Already. Moonflower? You’re alright?” The old gray tom stopped suddenly and stared at his sister in amazement.

“You say that as if you expected anything else,” Sunfall growled. “The mission was a success, their herbs were destroyed. Will you take a look at Bluepaw? She’s in shock and stopped talking during the walk back.”

Snowpaw stepped forward, Bluepaw leaning heavily on her shoulder. “It's gonna be okay Bluepaw, Goosefeather will look after you!”

But Goosefeather didn’t move, his gaze flickering between Bluepaw and Moonflower in shock.  
“But... but how? Starclan said...” Goosefeather murmured, closing his eyes. 

“Nevermind what Starclan said!” Featherwhisker snapped, darting into the medicine den and reappearing with a few bundles of thyme and marigold poultices he had prepared that morning before leaving with the raiding party.

“If you aren’t going to help with wounds, go hand out thyme to the apprentices and younger warriors who are in shock. I’ll handle the injuries.” Featherwhisker ordered.

Some of the warriors looked uneasy at the prospect of the medicine cat apprentice ordering around his mentor, but most relaxed when Goosefeather took the thyme and gathered those who were still in shock from the morning’s battle.

“Alright Moonflower, you need to eat some thyme as well while I work on your flank, alright?” Featherwhisker said soothingly, guiding the queen over to a nest in the medicine den.

“No... no, you need to help Bluepaw! She got hurt... How did she get hurt? She wasn’t supposed to be in the battle...” Moonflower mumbled as she sank down into a nest. “Is she alright? Is Snowpaw alright?”

“Goosefeather is treating them both for shock, then I’ll double-check on Bluepaw’s scratches. You just lay down, alright? Everything is going to be okay.”

When Featherwhisker was finished patching up Moonflower, he turned to see the rest of the den filled up. It seemed that Goosefeather had gotten himself out of his stupor long enough to direct the more seriously injured cats to Featherwhisker. Bluepaw had her nose buried in Stonepelt’s flank, who looked pained but didn’t push his apprentice away. Windflight and Sparrowpelt blinked apologetically as they helped guide Thrushpelt into a nest as well.

“Starclan, give me strength.” Feathertail whispered as he took in all the cats in his den. He had his work cut out for him.  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Two days after everyone had calmed down from the battle, Bluepaw found herself following her mother, sister, and surprisingly Sunfall out into the ravine to a secluded clearing for a talk. Needless to say, Bluepaw was not excited for this particular outing.

With her eye still covered with cobwebs and a dock leaf, Bluepaw situated herself where she’d be able to see everyone. She made a note to talk to White-eye later about how she got used to only seeing with one eye, not to assume the worst, Featherwhisker said she should be fine, but you can never be too careful.

“Didn’t I tell you two to be careful?!” Moonflower all but shrieked. “You promised me Bluepaw! You promised me you’d stay away from the fighting, what were you thinking?”

“You were in trouble!” Bluepaw protested weakly, “I couldn’t just-”

“Oooh, I knew I should have told Pinestar not to include you two. You’re barely apprentices as it is!”

“And I never should have taken you out as a kit,” Sunfall murmured. “I never meant to let you think you’d get special treatment.”

“What? I didn’t want any special treatment! We even said so-”

“I didn’t do anything! I stayed with Featherwhisker like I was told to!”

“Hush, Snowpaw, I know. This about your sister.”

Bluepaw sank to her paws as their voices got louder, pounding into her head until she couldn’t hear what they were saying, just that they were talking over each other at this point when-

“I am so disappointed in you Bluepaw. How do you think I feel, as a mother? Seeing my kit hurt in front of me, why, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if you had died!”

It was then that everything seemed to slow down, Moonflower’s words ringing in her ears as Bluepaw leaped to her feet once more, swinging her head to face her mother head-on. “Don’t you think I feel the same?!” She shouted.

It was finally quiet, not even the birds were chirping after Bluepaw made her proclamation, her sides heaving with anger.

“Don’t you think I feel the same?” She whispered again, almost to herself this time. “Snowpaw wasn’t watching the battle, but I was. I saw Hawkheart attack you, I- I saw him throw you across the clearing and he kept attacking you! He had you pinned and I saw- He was going for your throat! How could I not try and help you?”

"Don’t you realize that I wouldn’t be able to live with _myself_ if I saw my mother die knowing I could have stopped it?” Bluepaw cried.

Moonflower and Sunfall looked at each other in shock while Snowpaw rested her tail on Bluepaw’s shoulder to offer her comfort. Sharing an unspoken conversation, they seemed to come to an understanding and joined Snowpaw and Bluepaw for a moment in silence.

Bluepaw’s tears eventually subsided as Moonflower’s soothing apologies reached her ears. She didn’t notice Snowpaw leaving, Sunfall having reminded her about her training with Sparrowpelt.

“I’m sorry Bluepaw, I suppose I forgot that it goes both ways. A mother’s love is strong, but so is her daughter’s, hmm?”

Bluepaw giggled, “The strongest, I’ve only got one mom after all.” 

After a few heartbeats, Sunfall asked Bluepaw a question, or rather two. “Why didn’t you wait for Stormtail to help your mother? Or just alert another warrior?”

Bluepaw scowled at the ground at the mention of her father. “He was busy. Protecting Dappletail, sure he was nearby but he never even looked for Moonflower! And since he hadn’t noticed, I didn’t think there’d be time to tell someone else...”

Moonflower looked away, disappointed to hear from her own daughter that her mate was unconcerned for her safety. Sunfall’s gaze darkened and he nodded once, as if Bluepaw had confirmed something for him.

“Swiftbreeze told me you had a run-in with Hawkheart at the beginning of the battle, what was that about?”

“When we went to get Leopardpaw out of the fray, Hawkheart stopped me and called me a kit. I told him I wasn’t and he told me to show him my battle moves. I... I think he would have attacked me then too if Heatherstar hadn’t told him to go back to treating the injured.”

“That foxheart threatened my kit twice! The nerve of him...” Moonflower growled, flexing her claws into the dirt.

“I’ll bring this up with Pinestar, don’t worry. Though there may not be much we can do, given Windclan’s opinion on the battle. But maybe Featherwhisker can bring it up at the next half-moon meeting.” Sunfall promised.

“In the meantime, how about we collect some moss for the elders and Stonepelt? I imagine they’ll appreciate it, it’s going to rain soon and you know how they get when their bones are stiff!” Moonflower said with a forced smile.

Bluepaw nodded and stretched. “And after that, will you take Snowpaw and I out to get moss for our own nests, like you promised?”

Moonflower smiled and nosed Bluepaw forward, almost making her topple over. “Of course dear, just like I promised.”

So off the three of them went, making jokes and flinging moss at each other, laughing when it got caught on one’s head in a funny way. Snowpaw and Sparrowpelt joining in when they finished their training session.

And if the deputy shoulder-checked Stormtail on the way into the warriors den, or if Moonflower snubbed his offer to share prey with him and Dappletail, no one mentioned it. And when Stonepelt announced that he’d be moving in with the rest of the elders when they were having their last meal of the day, Bluepaw held her head high when she thanked him for his brief mentorship, and was pleased as can be when Pinestar made Sunfall her new mentor.

Things were looking up in Thunderclan, and Bluepaw swore to be the best warrior she could be one day.

So Hawkheart better watch out!

**Author's Note:**

> This was cross-posted from my tumblr (same as my username here), I wrote a huge analysis basically about why Doctors (Hawkheart) shouldn't murder people, and by the end of it, I decided I wanted to write a fic about Moonflower surviving the battle! It's a bit of a rush job but I hit all the points on my notes that I needed to to tell the story properly, and hopefully the characters are all, well, in character!
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed!


End file.
